Valve



March 15, 1932. L. v. ANDREWS VALVE Filed March 12, 1930 1 35 g? y a mum mm WHHHHHI .m. w E-, in,

INVENTOR L. V. ANDRE W5 BY nah-1 ATT NEY Patented Mar. 15, 1932 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

L. V. ANDREWS, 01" WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO RILEY ST'OKER COR- PORATION, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS VALVE Application-filed March 12, 1930. Serial 170. 435,822,

This invention relates to valves, and more particularly to stop valves arranged to be mounted in conduits through which pulvermodern plants is pulverized to such an ex-' tremely fine degree and will pass/through such minute openings that great difliculty has been encountered in constructing valves which are satisfactory in this respect. Valves used in this service frequentl remain untouched for long periods, an when it becomes necessary to open or close them it" is found that they are stuck fast by the wedging and hardening of the coal around the movable parts. I

It' is accordingly the main object of my invention to provide a stop valve for use in a conduit for pulverized coal and air which will serve to close the conduit tightly when desired and prevent all leakage, and which may be easily operated at anytime even though it may have stood idle for a long period.

It is a further object of my inventiouto provide. a stop valve which is simple and 1nexpensive to manufacture and install, and thoroughly dependable in operation.

With these and other ob ects in vlew, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, my invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a valve construction comprising a valve member which is rotatably mounted ina stationary body portion. The valve member has a passage therethrou-gli-which may be brought into registerwith openings in the body portion to permit 110W, or out of registo register with ter to prevent flow. In order to prevent leakage, both internal and external, I provide grooves across which any possible leakage must occur, and I provide means for introducing grease at high pressure into the grooves to seal them and to lubricate the I valve. External leakage is preferably preventedby means of an annular groove adjacent to one or both ends of the rotary valvev I member, and internal leakage by means of straight grooves extending parallel to the axis of the valve member.

Referring-to the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention, and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved valve;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig.

1, certain parts being shown in full for clearness of illustration;

'Fig. 3 is a section onthe line 33 of Fig. 2; and i Fig. 4; is an end elevation.

The embodiment illustrated comprises a valve body portion or casing 10 which is so constructed that it may be conveniently mounted in a ipe line. For this purpose I have shown anges 11 at each end of the body portion which have bolt holes 12 (Fig.

4) therein to permit ready connection of the structure to similar flanges on the pipe line. The casing 10 is made hollow as illustrated, thereby providing aligned openings 14 at its opposite ends through which the material to be conveyed in the pipe line may flowh These openings 1 1 are circular at their outer ends as shown in Fig. 4, to match" the openings in the pipe line n A valve member 16 is mounted within the casing 10 intermediate its ends, and arranged to be rotated about an axis transverse to the direction of flow through the casin This valve member may be shaped as 9. cy

inder fitting closely in an opening within the casing and provided with a diametrical passage 18 therethrough, preferably rectangular in cross section, which may be turned openings 14. These openings change smoot ly and gradually from a circular cross-section at their outer ends to p a rectangular cross-section at their inner ends of the same size and shape as the passage 18. The passage 18 is of substantially the same cross sectional area as the pipe line in which the valve is to be mounted, in order that there may be no appreciable restriction of the flow when the valve is open. The side portions of the valve 16 are preferably cut away intermediate the ends of the valve as shown at 19, and the adjacent portions of the casing are likewise cut away at 20, in order to reduce the area of the contacting surfaces and thus avoid excessive friction and the possibility of pulverized coal jamming between the parts. The valve member as so constructed 1 contacts with the body portion along four straight narrow strips located closely adjacent to the edges of the passage 18. This construction also decreases the weight of the structure and permits a more uniform thickness for the parts, which is an advantage when they are made by a casting operation.

The cylindrical opening in which the valve member 16 is mounted preferably extends entirely through the casing 10, as shown in Fig. 2, and is closed at one end by a fiat cir-' cular plate 22. This construction greatly simplifies the machining operation on the casing. Plate 22 may be fastened to the casing by any suitable means, such as nuts 23 and studs 24. The adjacent faces of the plate 22 and the valve member 16 are preferably cut away at 26 so that these parts contact only over afinarrow annular surface near the edge of the valve member. A flat annular plate 27 is fastened to the easing 10 at the opposite end of the valve 16 by means of nuts 29 and studs 30. The central opening 32 in the plate 27 is of a smaller diameter than the end of the valve, so that the 1 plate overlies the valve and prevents it from moving axially. A hexagonal, or otherwise suitably formed, projection 33 extends axially from the valve at the end adjacent the plate 27, and serves as a convenient means for applying a wrench or handle to operate the valve. Diametrically opposite projections 35 on the same end of the valve serve as indicators to show the position of the valve, and also form stops which cooperate with an inwardly extending projection 36 on the plate 27 to limit the total movement of the valve to 90 degrees.

In order to effectually prevent leakage of the valve, both internal and external, and at the same time thoroughly lubricate all relatively movable contacting surfaces, I provide a number of grooves through which grease may be forced under high pressure and which are so arranged that any possible leakage would have to take place across one of the grooves. In the preferred embodiment illustrated I have shown four grooves 38 (Fig. 3) extending parallel to the axis of the valve member 16 and located in those may be supplied with grease under pressure by any suitable means, such as Aleinite fittings 39 of well known construction mounted on one or both of plates 22 and 27 in line with the grooves. With this arrangement the Alemite fittings will be in line with the grooves so long as the valve is either fully open or fully closed. In most cases I have found it desirable to provide the fittings at both ends of the grooves to ensure the distribution of the grease along their entire lengths. At one end and preferably both ends of the valve I provide an annular groove 41 (Fig. 2) having such a diameter that it registers with the fittings 39 and the grooves 38. These annular grooves 41 may be conveniently formed by chamfering the adjacent corners of the valve and the casing at appr ximately a 45 degree angle.

The peration of the invention will now be appa *ent from the above disclosure. The valve is shown in the drawings in its fully open position, and the stream of pulverized fuel ant: air may flow freely through the opening 14 and 18. WVhen it is desired to close th valve, a wrench is applied to the projecti n 33 and the valve is turned through an angle of 90 degrees in a counter-clockwise direction in Fig. 1, the movement being limited y contact of upper stop 35 with projection 36. This will bring opening 18 out of register with the openings '14 in the valve body, and thus cut off the flow. Grease is now fdrced into the grooves 38 and 41 by applying asuitable high pressure grease gun to the Alemite fittings 39. This forms a film of greaseover all the contacting surfaces and prevents {any leakage of pulverized coal, either along the pipe line or externally into the boiler room. Moreover the grease lubricates the parts and prevents the fine coal from working between the relatively movable surfaces, so that the valve may be easily operated even after a long period of idleness. V

The valve isinexpensive to manufacture, since it is formed of few parts and the necessary machine work is of a simple character. There are no complicated and delicate mechanisms to give trouble, and the valve will operate with entire satisfaction through a long life of usefulness.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. 'A stop valve for a powdered coalpipe line comprising a body portion which is so constructed that it may be mounted in the transverse to the direction of flow, said valve member having a straight passage therethrough of rectangular cross-section which may be brought into register with the ,openings in the body portion and thereby permit a direct uninterrupted flow of the coal, said valve member being cut away on opposite sides and arranged to contact with the body portion along four straight narrow strips located closely adjacent to the edges of the rectangular passage, and means to supply grease under pressure along each of said strips and thereby force out any pulverized coal which may become wedged between the contacting surfaces.

2. A stop valve for a powdered coal pipe line comprising a body portion which is so constructed that it may be mounted in the pipe line and which has two opposite openings therein through which flow may take place, a cylindrical valve member mounted in the body portion and arranged for rotation about'an axis transverse to the direction each of said strips on the valve member hav- 7 ing a groove extending along its surface, and a high pressure lubricating fitting in direct line with each groove when the valve member is in either extreme position.

3. A stop valve for a powdered coal pipe line comprising a body portion having a transverse cylindrical opening extending en tirely therethrough, a cylindrical valve member mounted in the opening and arranged for rotation about its axis through an angle of ninety degrees, said valve member having a diametrical passage of rectangular crosssection therethroughand the body portion being shaped to provide, two opposite passages which register with the valve member passage when the valve is open, each of the passages in the body portion having a circular cross-section at its outer end which changes smoothly and gradually to a rec-.

tangular cross-section at the inner end of the passage of the same shape as the valve member passage, the side portions of the day of March, 1930.

L. V. ANDREWS.

valve member being cut away intermediate its ends and the parts of the body portion adjacent thereto when the valve is open being likewise cut away to leave four straight narrow strips for contact between the valve member and the body portion close to the edges of the rectangular valve member passage,-the contacting surfaces being shaped to provide lubricant ducts extending along 

